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N. Korea talks may end without agreement
(AP)
Updated: 2005-08-03 07:11
BEIJING - Breaking its public silence on nuclear disarmament talks, North
Korea said Tuesday it wants to narrow differences with the United States but
still insisted it won't give up its atomic weapons program until Washington
withdraws alleged threats, AP reported.
Christopher Hill,
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State and chief negotiator for the six-party
talks, speaks to journalists at his hotel in Beijing August 1, 2005.
[Reuters] |
The main U.S. envoy said talks were
nearing their conclusion �� possibly within days �� with delegates from six
countries set to submit final comments Wednesday on a draft proposed by China
for a statement of principles to guide future arms negotiations.
However, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill raised the
possibility the discussions might break off without an agreement, with envoys
heading home for further counsel.
"Whether we have a draft that everyone agrees on, or whether it's decided
that there should be a recess of some kind, we don't know yet," Hill said,
adding negotiators were "close to the end of this round" after eight days of
talks.
Hill said the latest version of the statement was "a good draft" that he had
submitted to Washington for review, but he didn't know how other delegations
would respond. He declined to give any specifics of what the document contained.
Hill appeared noticeably more upbeat after Tuesday's meetings compared to his
pessimism the day before, but cautioned: "I don't think one can talk about
progress until you actually see the agreement."
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